Watcher in the Dark
by Erkys
Summary: A man must struggle with his dark past as he is hunted by an elusive foe.
1. Dark History

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Wars.

* * *

A man stood, his face covered in shadows and his body exuding a palpable aura. Grass blackened under his feet as he walked forwards; his black cloak swished to the side as his left hand grabbed a cylinder made of black metal from his belt. The man thumbed the button and a red blade one and a half metres long shimmered into existence with a _snap-hiss_. The crimson light given off from the blade just deepened the shadows in the hood of the mystery man.

With a slight humming noise the man pointed the blade at a figure on the ground, broken and bloody he didn't stir except to stare with fear at the blade at it arced down and stabbed through his chest. His heart and lungs evaporated as the blade burnt away his life, filling the air with a sickly sweet smell. As the figure on the ground gasped his last his eyes grew dimmer and the black cloaked man laughed and faded into the darkness.

* * *

Jerreth awoke with a start and slapped his hands onto his chest, feeling his clothes sodden with sweat. No wound showed and breathing heavily he flopped onto his back, letting his environment filter back in. He was still aboard the small room that he had called home for the past four years, the reassuring thrum of the hyperdrive engines propelling his small craft through the swirling depths of hyperspace resonated through the decks. Getting up with a groan he looked at himself in the mirror, his black hair was unruly from his violent sleep and his cold grey eyes stared back at him with only a slight tinge of redness in them. He was only twenty-eight and considered in the prime of his life but right now he felt five times that. He paced over to the refresher station and had a quick shower before pulling on some fresh clothes. As he was adjusting his blaster belt which held his heavy blaster pistol his eyes settled on the small black wood box on his dresser. It was roughly forty centimetres long and had intricate red runes across the surface. A slight whispering seemed to emanate from the box and he reached out to open it but stopped himself at the last moment.

Turning his back on the box he stalked up to the cockpit, knowing that he would find Jayde there. She turned around as Jerreth walked onto the small cockpit and sat down in the captain's chair. Her eyes tracked him and she spoke softly "More dreams Cap?" Jerreth grunted a reply, his eyes fixed upon the screen in front of him. Jayde knew that this wasn't the time to press him and instead looked at the screens in front of her "Two minutes to realspace reversion. All systems are green"

Jerreth nodded "Good, I'll take her in my self."

Out of the corner of his eye he looked at Jayde. By most men's standards she would be a rare beauty, long dark brown hair and the green eyes of her namesake. Her well-toned body fit snugly into the tight flightsuit that she wore. She caught him looking and smiled slightly before Jerreth looked away. The monitor to his left showed a countdown starting from ten and when it reached zero he pulled a small lever. Instantly the flowing energy that was hyperspace disappeared as the _Hell Drake_ dropped out of hyperspace. His ship, the _Hell Drake, _was a heavily modified Surronian Conqueror Assault Ship. While only 28 metres long it had fire power, speed and it looked the part with a smooth flowing hull that seemed sculpted. The weaponry consists of a pair of fire-linked ion cannons facing forward as well as a turret-mounted double laser cannon. The laser cannons can be handled from the turret's gunnery position or controlled from the cockpit, although at significantly reduced accuracy.

Jayde spoke "Scanners online, looks like freighter traffic only… hang on we've got a large contact. Looks like a capital ship, sensor profile suggests Frigate or better. Panning visual sensors to location…Corellian Corvette sir, IFF designates it the _Harbringer. _Should I plot a course out of here?"

Jerreth looked at the ship and shook his head "No, that'll look suspicious. We'll continue on as planned"

He reached over and pressed a button on the console "This is Captain Jerreth Sciopios of the _Hell Drake_ to Solaris control, requesting landing permission"

"_Hell Drake_ this is Control, permission granted. Docking bay 138"

"Acknowledged control. _Hell Drake_ out"

The sleek ship sped through the atmosphere, clouds whipping past its aerodynamic shape. The sensor board buzzed and Jerreth looked at it curiously. Two fighters were hanging back, far away enough to keep from insulting the ships that came in but close enough to warn off potential troublemakers. Slowing the ship down Jerreth banked slowly over the spaceport before settling down with a slight thump. The engines shut down with a whine and the ramp lowered allowing Jerreth and Jayde to disembark, both were armed and they looked about to get their bearings before setting off to the cantina. A press of a button on the remote that he carried closed the ramp so no one could get aboard his ship. Unnoticed by the pair as they made their way through the city, a pair of eyes watched them go and in the depths of the hood a smile formed.


	2. Escape

Walking through the doorway of the establishment that the garish sign outside proclaimed was the 'Mynock Cavern', Jerreth scanned the dark room quickly and assessed the potential threats. Seeing that all was well he stalked in and took a seat at a table, his back against the wall to protect against ambush. Jayde sat to his left, leaving him with a clear field of fire, and looked up as a bartending droid came up to them. Jerreth looked at the black droid; its carapace had slight swirls of purple all over it and it looked well tended. "I'll have a Corellian Whisky, Why'rhens Reserve if you have it". The droid noted it down and turned to Jayde "I'll have a Juri Juice thanks". The droid beeped in confirmation and trundled off to the bar, returning shortly with their orders.

A sudden presence made Jerreth turn and look at the entrance to the Cantina. A tall man stood clad in a dark brown robe, his face hidden by the shadows cast by the inadequate lighting. He turned and looked at Jerreth as if sensing that he was watching him and he walked over to the seated man. Jerreth unbuckled the catch of his holster and loosened his blaster so that it was ready for a quick draw. He was relieved to see Jayde doing the same. The mystery man stopped in front of the two companions and spoke up "I am looking for a pilot available for a charter flight"

Jerreth eyed the man and took a sip of his whisky "What makes you think that I have a ship?"

The man pulled up a seat and sat down. Jerreth saw Jayde's hands creep towards her holstered blasters and he gave an almost motionless wave of his fingers that stopped her. "You have the look of a pilot. This charter is a one way flight that will pay well"

Jerreth's business sense kicked in "Destination?"

"Yavin 4" was the mystery man's reply

"The world with the Jedi academy?" Jerreth replied, slightly shocked.

"The very same. I will pay ten thousand credits. Half now and half upon the successful delivery of myself to that world"

Jerreth thought about it for a moment and extended his hand "You've got a deal. Docking bay 138, we'll be leaving in a few hours".

The man shook his hand and Jerreth felt an electrical tingle run through him. There was something about this stranger that didn't seem right. At that moment a man burst through the door and yelled breathlessly "We're under attack! An Imperial fleet has turned up in orbit and has begun deploying ground troops!"

A Rodian got to his feet and asked, "How is that possible? We are a neutral planet, the Imperials have no cause to attack us"

Just then four stormtroopers burst through the door and fired. The crimson bolts burnt down the Rodian and the man who had shouted the warning. Ripping his blaster pistol from its holster Jerreth fired and pitched one of the white armoured trooper's back, smoke leaking from the hole in his helmet. Jayde fired her two pistols and dropped another trooper with a flurry of shots that left smoking holes in his armour. Following their example four of the cantina's patrons fired with an assortment of weaponry, which brought down the last two troopers.

Turning to the man Jerreth said in a voice that was not unlike a growl "Looks like the timetable has moved forwards. We leave now!"

The three of them raced from the cantina and headed towards the docking bay. They made it there relatively safely, having to fight another patrol before reaching the safety of the spaceport. Clustered around the _Hell Drake_ were eight stormtroopers on guard duty. Jerreth checked his power pack and saw that it was good for ten shots. _More than enough to deal with these troopers_ he mused to himself. He looked to Jayde and she nodded and hefted her blaster pistols. Jumping out of cover everything seemed to slow down, like someone had covered time and space with thick syrup.

Jerreth brought up his blaster pistol and squeezed the trigger, a stormtrooper fell with his breastplate smoking. Dodging to the left he fired again and pitched another trooper to the ground. Another squeeze of the trigger killed another stormtrooper before they started to fire back. Jerreth ducked hurriedly and fired twice more killing another two more troopers. _Five steps and five kills, that kind of luck cant continue. _And continue it didn't as time seemed to speed up to its normal speedthe gunfire seemed to finally find him, a blaster bolt hit his blaster and knocked it out of his hands and then another bolt hit his rapidly diving body.Melting through his outer clothing and impacting on his body armour. It felt like someone had hit him full force with a sledgehammer and he dropped to the ground and slid half a metre before stopping in a heap, pain lancing his body.

Jayde stepped out of cover, wondering how Jerreth had moved so fast, and blazed away at the stormtroopers. The sheer amount of fire aimed at them killed them quickly, allowing Jayde to holster her weapons and go see to Jerreth. He was fine, his armour having stopped the bolt before it could do any permanent damage but he was still bruised from the impact on the armour. The man that accompanied them helped Jerreth to his feet and passed him the blaster that had been shot out of his hands. Accepting the blaster with a nod Jerreth pressed a button on the remote he carried and hurried up the ramp, closely followed by the other two.


End file.
